19th Century General Store in Elbridge, Tennessee

Elbridge Community, first known as Beech Point, was settled in the 1830’s and 40’s long before the War Between the States. Running a ridge north and south between Clover Creek and Little Clover Creek in District Nine, Elbridge is eight miles west of the town of Obion in the lower western section of Obion County. This area appears to have been in District Four prior to the 1870 county and district re-structuring.

The name, Elbridge, was chosen to honor Dr. Elbridge Richardson in the 1870’s after Beech Point was notified that another Tennessee post office existed with that name. During the years the Post Office was located in the stores of Jack Wortham, Walter Via and Wm. Stover, Hardy Davidson, George Worley and King Brothers. At one time, Joe and Una Fleming combined the post office in their home and Mrs. Fleming was Postmistress. The last location was the V. G. Hailey building. Other postmasters were Mr. Stover (William?), Talmadge King, Ivie Lippard; Hardy Huffstutter and Odie B. Stover were rural mail carriers.

Pioneer settlers included George Davidson, George W. King and C. Theodore Lippard. Joining them later were Peter Bradshaw, J. T. Call, Esq. Barker, Charley Strain, Ed Carrol, J. A. Jackson, C. N. Shires and J. A. Buchanan (father of Wilkes Buchanan).

Jack Wortham had the first general store; his stock was later sold to H. C. Davidson. Walter Via, son of William Via of the Minnick Community, and William Stover also had general stores. The tanning yard was operated by Ed Carroll and John Hailey, crippled in the Civil War, opened a custom-made shoe and boot and repair shop. Corn was ground at Chris Shires’ gristmill. Farm and livestock operators included H. C. Davidson and Talmus King. Other residents included the William Morris’s.

The Elbridge Telephone Company, Inc. was chartered in the early 1900’s and Kirk Barnes is probably the best remembered operator. A newspaper, The Enterprise, was owned by H. C. Davidson and later the Elbridge Pioneer was published by Tom W. Cunningham.

W. T. Call was the first president of the Bank of Elbridge, organized in 1910, with N. I. Manly as first cashier. L. E. Maloney succeeded him and remained cashier except for the years 1927, 1928 and 1929 when E. A. Watson was cashier. Other businesses through the years were H. T. King General Store, V. G. Hailey Grocery Store and Notions, J. P. Wells Grocery Store, H. P. Roddy Grocery Store and H. P. Hailey Restaurant. W. T. Shires had a garage and service station. Fred Bennett made sorghram molasses and Ed Hughes was the barber. Another Hailey, Pinkney, operated King Mercantile and W. T. and Allie Stover boarded teachers. Then there was the Lane Cotton House, don’t know if this means they were buyers or that they stored cotton or something. And if I’m interpreting the articles correctly, R. C. Sanford had a rural route grocery business. Dr. J. P. Cunningham was the local physician and the Robert Fleming Grocery Co. was in CLOVERDALE.

Other doctors: Elbridge Richardson, Merridith Carroll, John Wright, Dr. Boals and C. S. Morrison.

First cars owned by Virgil Morris, John King, Dr. Wright and Jack Call (1917-1924).

Businesses in 1981: Bank of Elbridge, Bill Coker Grocery, Post Office, Clemens Harrell Repair Shop.

Sources:

• Obion County History, Union City, Tennessee, Volume One, 1981, Pub. Obion County Historical Society, Taylor Publishing Company, Dallas, Texas.
• Obion County History, Union City, Tennessee, Volume Two, 1985, Pub. Obion County Historical Society, Taylor Publishing Company, Dallas, Texas.
• Marshall, E. H., History of Obion County, Reprinted, 1970, 1974, by H. A. Lanzer Co., Union City, Tennessee